Chapter 24:

He sat with his back to the front door and thought. Seeing her with this man, Magnus Duval, was driving him crazy. He had to admit it. He was jealous of this man, and he felt hurt to see her in his company. Come to think of it, every time he had seen him in her company, he had found himself saying stupid things afterwards. But he was completely wrong, he had to win. It sounded like the best way to push her away and it was definitely not what he wanted.

He could not help but wonder if he was pushing her away for other reasons. Was he afraid? When Liza had died, he could not deny that it had upset him. He had sincerely loved her, and it had been very difficult. However, today was not the same. With Julia Ogden, he felt something strange that he could not define. And he furtively thought that, if something happened to her, he would not recover. He raised his eyebrows at the thought. They knew each other very little. Barely five days, three of which were spent avoiding and arguing. But in the end, it was more than enough for him to realize that something was happening and that it was much more intense than anything he had experienced in his life. It was too hard to explain, even for him.

He sat there for over half an hour, thinking. He was not quite clear on his mind, but eventually he stood up. He went to his closet, opened it, and took out his coat. He quickly put it on and stormed out of his room. He almost ran outside and spent a good two hours looking for Julia. He walked around the hotel, he entered the town of Sitka, circled around Swan Lake, and went a little deeper into the forest. He went near where he had found her with Mr. Duval, but nothing. She was nowhere to be found. William sighed. She was probably having dinner in a restaurant given the late hour. It was already nearly eight o'clock in the evening.

He finally returned to the hotel, empty-handed, his hands in his pockets. He passed the entrance hall and passed his superior, Inspector Brackenreid.

"Ah Murdoch! We haven't seen you all day." he smiled at him. "Where have you been?"

"I wandered around a bit, nothing in particular. And you?" asked William politely.

"Ooh! You don't seem on your plate. Are you sure you're, okay?" asked the inspector, his arms crossed.

"I'm actually looking for Doctor Ogden. I… I behaved badly and I would like to apologize…" confessed the detective, almost dejected.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't talk to her well. I've been cold and… I don't know what's wrong with me right now…"

"You like her." said his superior with evidence.

William nodded imperceptibly.

"You need to wake up, old man. With Liza, it was beautiful, but it was like a season…" says wisely but sadly Thomas Brackenreid.

"I know…"

"You have to seize opportunities like this. I see how you look at this woman and you must not let her slip away. I don't think I've seen you so infatuated with a woman…" he ventured. " Go! No time to think about what I'm telling you. Go join her."

"But I don't know where she is…"

"In her room. She dined alone at the restaurant when we were with Margaret and the little ones. Then she went up to her room. I don't know what you said to her but… Well, she didn't look well. Good luck fixing that." joked Thomas, patting his friend on the back.

After this little interview with his superior, William climbed the stairs four by four to the floor where the young woman's room was. Once in front of the latter, he knocked on the door directly, with much more confidence than the last time on the train. On the train, he had seen Magnus come out of the young woman's room when he knocked... No, this time it would not be like that.

He heard movement behind the door and his heart pounded so hard he thought the young woman might hear it as soon as she stepped out onto the landing. The door opened slowly to reveal a completely taken aback and confused Julia. She stood frozen in place of incomprehension for a few seconds.

"Wil… Detective Murdoch… Can I help you?" asked the young woman formally.

William felt his heart sink when he heard her call his last name. "One step forward, two steps back" as some might say.

"Julia…" William gave up. "I was about to go out…Would you like to come with me for a walk around the lake?"

"I don't know… I don't understand, earlier… Well, you didn't seem to want to be with me." the young woman said awkwardly, that bright look back on her face.

"Forgive me for earlier…" sighed William, defeated.

"I would like to understand…"

"I saw you with Mr. Duval today…"

"You already told me that earlier." Julia said, confused, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"And... Don't you understand?" the young man asked subtly before taking a deep, anxious breath, his heart pounding again.

He watched the doctor look at him. He could see the cogs turning in her brain as she considered what he had said to her. He suddenly saw her confused expression change to complete shock.

William nodded. He did not really know what she had understood, but he thought she was on the right track.

"You…you wanted me to come with you?" she suddenly changed the subject.

"Yes."

William smiled at her admiringly as he could see Julia's cheeks flush.

Note: Thank you to those who continue to read my story. I hope you still like it. Do not hesitate to leave a small comment :)